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In Egypt, Elections Still Matter

As the expected June 30 protests approached, Egyptians were expressing a mix of hope, fear — even resignation — that the nation's military would have to intervene in government.
Egypt's new President Mohamed Mursi (3rd R) and Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi (4th R), head of Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), attend a ceremony where the military handed over power to Mursi at a military base in Hikstep, east of Cairo, June 30, 2012. Mursi was sworn in on Saturday as Egypt's first Islamist, civilian and freely elected president, reaping the fruits of last year's revolt against Hosni Mubarak, although the military remains determined to call the shots. The military

Following the violence around the anniversary of the Jan. 25 revolution, and President Mohammed Morsi’s apparent inability to deliver on its aspirations in his year of rule, there has been a mix of hopeful, resigned, and wary speculation about the possibility of a new intervention by the military into government.

Minister of Defense Gen. Abdul Fatah Khalil al-Sisi deflected such conjecture by repeatedly calling on the country’s political factions to come to accords and find mutually agreeable solutions to problems facing the country. He has simultaneous warned the ruling regime against their inaction and reassured the citizenry that the military will not allow for the collapse of Egypt.

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